Oxon Flyer

Time we had a “We apologise if your meal choose is not available” log thread.

If nothing else it’ll help test the theory that BA frequently seems to (conveniently) under-cater the most desirable / costliest dishes.

If you’d like to join in and post your own experiences, then great. If this isn’t your aubergine mouselline, then just pass on by ....

Opening datapoint :

Flight : LHR-ARN 11 Feb 2020, BA780 dep 1315
Cabin : Club Europe, full cabin, BA Gold in row 3 of 6
Your choice not available: Chicken tikka salad
Still available : Chicken Supreme; veggie ravioli.

carrotjuice

A bit confused at the hypothesis. Why would BA intentionally "conveniently" cater to the most desirable dishes? As to cost, wouldn't BA just set a cost per dish limit to the caterer who manages within the cost?

fruitcage

there is always a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered...

Flip42

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.

corporate-wage-slave

Are we supposed to list those examples of when all the options are all available?

I would say these all cost about the same in terms of supplied cost. If there was tofu and/or ricotta in the ravioli then that would be potentially slightly more expensive. If we're looking at total cost of service including overheads the chicken supreme would be the most expensive.

volar

I find this quite interesting. I remember when the CE catering last changed there were some moans on here about the hot meals running out (for band 3 and 4 which get a hot ‘rest of the day’ meal) with only salads remaining.

Now it seems to be the opposite - very few salads loaded (I’ve seen this for myself) and I doubt those cold dishes with their couple of chunks of chicken or whatever are more costly to produce than, say, the chicken supreme in the quoted example.

i don’t think there’s a conspiracy here, I just think they haven’t got the numbers quite right, and with catering loaded at exactly 100% (as I understand it) it’s likely that some people will be disappointed.

They should just load a couple of extra meals on each flight - this would help a bit with ensuring choice remains and would also help to have a couple of spares for op-ups, same day changes etc.

CCayley

If the thread is to be anything other than a place to vent, then presumably Yes!

Plus times when our preferred choice was available, but another option had run out...

Confus

Don't buy the conspiracy theories, but nevertheless a great idea for a thread. Hopefully if there are indeed trends that appear the BA catering execs will see them and reconsider loadings.

I suspect it will just prove the old adage that ‘people are different’, and what I like and want may not be what the next person likes and wants. But either way we’ll have fun finding out!

shefgab

Since the dawn of aviation, people haven't been getting their first choice. Even loading a few more of each dish, you'll still have people in the back row not getting their choice. Load one of each meal for each person, you'll have immense waste, and still people won't get the meal they'd really like. You can also bet that today's flight will "sell out" of dish A, tomorrow will run out of B, and yesterday it was dish C that was most popular. You could instigate an online reservation system, but guaranteed every flight there will be people that didn't know such a thing was possible, and not get their first choice.

If the meal is very important, talk to the crew ASAP to reserve your choice, and they'll probably put it to one side, especially for a Gold towards the back of the cabin.

sxc

I know that airlines like Cathay have a lot of problems because they try to cater to different ethnicities and their preferences eg Asian food vs Western food. And when the passenger profile is very different to the norm for a certain flight, there’s a lot of disappointed passengers.

TTmex

I'll add a data point. In approximately 40 legs I've only not got my first choice once. The world must be against you.

TWCLAM

Oxon Flyer You had me at "aubergine mouselline" TTmex WOW! That's some appallingly bad luck and i'd be wondering who at catering has such a long standing vendetta against you as well. Next time I or my travelling partner( s) complain I shall turn to them, quote you back, and tell them to be grateful for what they have received.

BertieBadger

Possibly worth a re-read of TTmex's comment

TWCLAM

Thank you, bloody idiot! ( myself not you Mr BertieBadger )

13901

I don't think BA undercaters specific meals based on cost; in fact, I doubt there are large differentials between one meal and another. What it does, and keeps on doing, is misjudging the taste of its passengers.

One key example was the guinea fowl-gate. I personally adore guinea fowls. My late mother did a fantastic one and the dish was amazing on board. However, people didn't know that a fowl is a glorified chicken and that created non-stop issues. Similarly, when I briefly was volunteered to fly as crew, I did a LOS in Club where we had a 20% loading of chicken and a hell of a lot of pasta, fish and something else quite pretentious. Ran out of the chicken by row 3 of Club and by the time we got to the end we were being called names, told we were being racist and so on because of the lack of chicken.

My wish is that BA learned from Delta and stopped trying to be fancy. More often than not what the chefs come up with will appeal the Waitrose crowd but will be utterly disgusting to everyone in the world.